Photographing Fighters

by Mike

Over at Notes from Ringside, Hywel gives some advice on taking pictures of fighters.

Presumably, this also applies to taking photos with fighters which makes me think that maybe I didn't really break rule #2 (avoid the "fight pose" shot) when I really only had the half-fighter pose going with Robson Moura.


However, nothing beats a pic of Wanderlei Silva playing cornhole.

Post-Seminar Checklist

by Mike

So, you used the seminar checklist and got everything that you needed to before you showed up. 12 hours of seminar and one semi-private later, you've got some bumps, bruises, the hell of a lot of illegible notes and a vastly improved game. What now?

When you get out of the seminar:

• First things first - have a beer. It'll kick start your recovery process. If there are people around who aren't sick of you from spending a weekend trapped in your stinky gi, this is a great time to go out, talk a little bit about what happened, what you learned and all the cool ways you're gonna change up your training.
  
  
• Then, shut the hell up about it. Enough already. Don't even think about bothering your friends that didn't go and/or don't train. No matter how supportive you think they are, a) they don't care and b) they're thinking, "you basically put a part-time job's worth of work into one weekend and spent it hugging dudes?"
  

When you get home:

• Take your gear out to let it air out/go in the wash. You'd be surprised how many times people forget to take their stuff out and only remember right before the next class, realize that they don't have enough time to wash anything and show up smelling like a gi or gloves that were used for 12 hours and then sat in a bag for a week. Wash your clothes!
  
  
• Hop in the bath. Hot water, epsom salts and try not to fall asleep in there. Take it from experience that if you stay in over 20 minutes, the salt creeps in your open pores and you'll be sweating medicinal salts for the next few days.
  
  
• Use your preferred painkillers and anti-inflammatories. As my wrestling coach says:

  When you get home, remember: ice. Or if you're that type, ice and Advil. Or if you're that type, ice, Advil and beer.
  

• Be careful about taking a nap. Falling asleep at six and waking up at 8 is a great way to not be able to fall asleep again that night, which not only takes away some prime recovery time, but also makes you groggy and grumpy the next day.
• Instead, use that time to review your notes. You'd be surprised how easy it is to not only not be able to read your own handwriting, but also to forget all those cryptic abbreviations you used to save time.
  
  
  

  Example of notes taken during a seminar. Note the diagram, which I think might have been copied from the Lesser Key of Solomon and not the representation of how to place your legs in the S-Mount like I intended.
  
  

  The sooner you can get back to your notes and use your memory to fill in the gaps, the better.
  
  
• Practice what you learned. Having the notes is nice and all, but trying to learn anywhere from a couple to a couple dozen techniques in a short time only allows for a couple reps - barely enough to figure out what you need to pay attention to and definitely not enough to get the muscle memory to kick in. If you've got access to others who took the seminar with you, try to get together and compare notes/review everything you worked on.
  

Most importantly:

• Share what you learned. Bring your experience and knowledge back to your gym and your classmates who couldn't attend. Sharing what you know will not only help reinforce what you did, but you'll be raising the game of everyone at your school and in turn that will elevate your game even more.
  

Seminar Checklist

by Mike

Seminars are an awesome way to progress and grow as a martial artist. We've previously covered seminars and how/why they may be useful for your training, but there are practical matters related to the seminar - logistics if you will.

Whether your do all your training on the seminar circuit with Rorce Gracie and Dan Severn,* or you have the opportunity to take a one-off with one of your idols, you best make sure you're prepared to take full advantage of the situation.

Things to bring:

• Proper equipment. If the seminar is going to be Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Judo make sure you have an appropriate gi. If it's going to be Muay Thai drills, make sure you bring your tombstone pads. If you'll be sparring, bring your sparring gear. If it's not clear from the seminar agenda, ask the hosting school.
  
  
• More equipment than called for. Few seminars have any structure to them, let alone a rigid agenda, so it's entirely possible that you'll end up doing some fun stuff, like rolling with the instructor or sparring. You don't need to bring your whole gym bag, but some "just in case" items might prove to be worth the extra weight.
  
  
• Your notebook and several pens. You are keeping a notebook aren't you?
  
  The notebook is by far the most important thing you'll need during the seminar. You're paying good money for access to a great teacher that you likely won't see again for another year, if at all, so you want to make sure that you not only learn a lot while you're in the seminar, but that you remember it after the seminar's over.
  
  You should take any spare moment you get to start writing down notes - drills you like, things you need to work on, new techniques, etc. I have fond memories of Renzo Gracie teaching a very high-percentage kneebar when stuck in someone's half-guard that I only wrote down, "kneebar from inside half-guard" and every time I get caught in someone's half-guard, I curse myself for not remembering it.
  
  
• Camera. If you're that type that likes to get shots of you and famous people. I'm not particularly, but somewhere a dude from my gym has a great shot of Matt Lindland choking me out that he keeps promising to email me and never does. Shoulda thought to bring my own camera.
  
  
• Cash money. Most, if not all, seminar instructors will have something extra to sell after the seminar. Books, t-shirts, videos, knives, etc. They probably won't take credit cards or checks, but definitely will take cash.
  
  Also useful for having if there's an unexpected break in the seminar and you want to go out and grab a snack, or otherwise go out to dinner/the bar with other attendees after the seminar's over.
  
  
• Water bottle and snacks. Most seminars are going to bring out many more students than the space they're held in normally hold. Thus, when there is a break, there will be a line of nerds waiting for the drinking fountain. While they're holding up the show, you can take the opportunity to take some notes.
  
  If there are going to be multiple sessions or the seminar is particularly long, having some well thought-out snacks is going to serve you much better than heading out with everyone to the 7-Eleven to get some crap to fill up on. Nothing funnier than watching people come back to an afternoon session of an all-day seminar (which are traditionally harder than the morning sessions), full of burritos and spend the rest of the day looking like they're going to puke.
  
  Unless they're your partner.
  

Other considerations:

• Make sure you arrive early... Traffic and/or your sense of direction are often worse than you thought they were. Showing up to a seminar late is bad for two reasons 1: you miss out on some learning that you're paying good money for and 2: it pisses off the instructor.
  
  Case in point, I attended a Maurice Smith seminar at the ComicCon of all places (see Bas Rutten vs. Dracula) and, due to there being a surprising amount of traffic at 9am on a Sunday, I got in about five minutes late. My hopes of being able to sneak in the back were dashed when I walked in the room and saw everyone was spread out and starting to work on drills. Big Mo was kind of annoyed as I kicked off my shoes. I bowed and said, "I apologize for being late, sir.** Can I still jump in?"
  
  He softened a bit, "No problem, just line up and we'll get started."
  
  About five minutes after that, another guy walked in, looking like he just got out of bed, kicked off his sandals and said, "uh, I'm here for the Maurice Smith seminar."
  
  Maurice looked at him and said, "You're late. Hurry up, you're wasting time."
  
  
• ...but don't expect the seminar to start on time. It's entirely likely that the seminar teacher will be in town visiting his friends the host and therefore was out all night with them, catching up and/or crunked.
  

--

* This is a joke, please don't email me about how I misspelled Hoyce.***

** In case you ever have occasion to meet the man, don't call him "sir." I'm pretty sure it's also a bad idea to call him anything other than what he tells you you can call him.

*** That was also a joke.

Heavy Bag Etiquette

by Mike

Most, if not all of these guidelines (which really should be laws) are predicated on the idea that the person dropping bombs on the heavy bag is someone engaged in Serious Work and should not be disturbed. I'm slightly disappointed when I see people at the gym walking past/through/bothering people working the bags.

Do not walk past someone working the bags. Wait for the round to end. They have the "right" to the space around the bag, so long as they are not being foolish or taking up too much space. As such, do not expect them to move for you.

Under no circumstances are you to walk in between someone working the bags and the bag. You will get hurt and people will laugh at you.

Do not reset the timer. As long as there is someone working, there is someone who is relying on that timer. Resetting without permission is a good way to get invited to a "nice, friendly" sparring session.

You may not use more than one bag at a time. Unless you have a good reason. However, I'm at a loss to figure out what a good reason might be.

Do not bring your girlfriend in to steady the bag while you push it around. You're not impressing anyone when you do this, least of all her.

If you knock the bag down, take a split second to ask yourself 1) Did this fall on someone or break something? 2) Will leaving the bag here be in anyone's way? 3) Am I training for MMA or another event where you are allowed to attack a downed opponent? If the first two are no and the last one is yes, then jump on that bad boy and keep punching - round ain't over yet!

With all of the above in mind, if you are working the bags, be aware of where other people are. The possibility of someone running past you is still pretty high.

CC licensed photo from hmmlargeart

Wash Your Clothes!

by Meredith

Wash your shit.

Just because you're about to get it all sweaty again does not justify dragging a stinky gi out of the laundry and wearing it in to class to burn the nose hairs off of your fellow students. I always keep an extra gi and shirt in my locker. If you're one of those that sweats profusely (you know who you are) and you plan on working out before class or taking more than one class, by all means, bring an extra shirt to change into. Especially if you're going to be grappling. Or kickboxing. I hate kicking someone and then having to drag my foot along the floor afterwards until I wipe off their sweat and regain traction. Just bring an extra shirt. For me.

Also, wash your knee and elbow pads and handwraps. I've been guilty of letting this go too long once before and man... was it embarrassing. But I made up for it this Saturday when I was about to grapple and my partner asked, "What fabric softener do you use? You smell great!" And, yes, he was a heterosexual male.

Just wash your stuff. It makes for good hygiene and good neighbors.

Doc Dill has the following to add regarding the sorts of things you might find growing in your nasty old gear.

Yep, [keep your gear/clothing clean] and you reduce the chance of passing on or contracting an infection. Things like impetigo, pseudomonas, etc. Worse is getting an antibiotic resistant bacterial infection like the MRSA or the "flesh eating bacteria." You wind up in the hospital on IV antibiotics, which leave you with a good chance at permanent dizziness. It's not all that hard to contract either. So stop the stink!!! Wash your SHIT and don't try and cover it up with bad cologne either. That just makes you smell like an 80 yr old incontinent with a bad nose.

CC licensed image from Handforged.

Do not drool - mouthguard etiquette

by Mike

Now that you've fit your mouthguard, you should learn how to use it properly.

• Once you put it in, keep it in. Taking it out and putting it back in seems to take a lot of time. It's entirely possible to drink or talk with it in. An exception may be when an instructor is going on to the next drill in their class and so needs to describe something in great detail.
  
  
• No chewing on it. If it's a bad habit, you need to learn to keep your jaw shut. If it's because you didn't fit it properly, then you need to re-fit it.
  
  
• IF YOUR MOUTHGUARD FALLS ON THE FLOOR, DO NOT PUT IT BACK IN WITHOUT THOROUGHLY WASHING IT FIRST! I can't believe how often I see this. It's disgusting.
  
  
• Do not drool.
  

Mailbag! Should Boys and Girls Be Allowed To Play Together?

"I'm a chick whose interested in getting started boxing. The gym I'm looking at doesn't have separate women's classes (guys spar with girls). I know no one's going to clobber me, but I'm afraid that they're going to take it easy on me and I won't learn as much. This gym has a good reputation, but would I be better off going to a women's-only gym or program?"

Meredith says:

Personally, I try to go with the guys as often as possible. And to be fair to them, since I'm smaller, I try to punch them as HARD AS I CAN.

Okay, in all seriousness, as long as you're sparring someone at the same level, weight and ability as yourself it really shouldn't matter if they're a guy or a girl. Some people have ego problems, but that's the same for both sexes and I'll address that later.

I do actually go with guys at least as often, if not more so, as I go with girls. One reason for this is just that there are usually more of them around and another is self-defence logic. If you're ever going to get attacked, it's generally not going to be by another girl so it helps to be used to fighting a guy. Generally the more experienced guys are pretty good with knowing how hard to go with someone who is in a lower weight class than themselves. If you get someone who you feel is taking it easy, do the same as you would if you were with someone who was going to hard. Let them know.

I've found that variations on following phrases work well to adjust another person's levels without insulting them either way: "Hey, do you mind if we go a little lighter? I'm trying to work some techniques, if that's okay with you. Let me know if I'm hitting too hard also." or for the opposite effect "Hey, you can go a little harder if you want. I know you're trying to be nice, but I'm okay with upping the intensity a bit if you are."

Both of those phrases are nicer to say than, "Hey, ease up asshole!" or "Dude, just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't take a goddamn punch. THROW SOMETHING." Because really, someone may not know that they're hitting too hard. Also, some guys are just going to be overly gentlemanly about hitting a girl because it's been ingrained in their nature and you have to verbally let them know that it's really okay in the ring. Be nice about it, there's a good chance that they're not being a jerk either way and this way both of you get a better workout. Communication is always good since none of us can read minds (regardless of what Mike says after he gets a few beers in him).

When you start at your gym, likely you'll make friends in a few classes and those people would probably be good to partner with for outside sparring sessions. The longer you're there, the more you'll get to know people and you'll get more comfortable sparring with others. Limiting your partners to only one sex really just limits yourself and your experience.

Just like anything else, you will have those people who just don't like to be beat and don't like to be scored on. Guys as well as girls. Eventually you'll learn who these people are and can either avoid sparring with them or at the very least, you'll know what you're in for when you get in the ring with them. The same applies to people who outweigh you and have no control. Sometimes you just aren't in the mood for working with those people.

Don't Bleed All Over Me!

by Mike

1. Don't bleed all over me.
   
   
2. Don't get huffy when I don't want to roll with you because you're bleeding all over me.

Etiquette when visiting a new school

by Mike

A long-ass bus ride to Cincinnati found me sitting next to a Jiu-Jitsu instructor and we got to discussing his gym and what sort of people go there. Being in it's first month, it's still a brand-new school and he said that they've got a solid base of students, all of which are pretty low-key. There were, however, a couple former wrestlers come in to see how their skillz stacked up against this jiu-jitsu stuff (i.e. smash the Brazilian Ass-Grabbers) and in each case, they were taken for a ride and learned some humility.

I'd mentioned that I'd never seen anyone walk into our grappling class with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove and he'd only rarely seen in over the course of his 10-year career.

Now, alpha males walking into boxing gyms with a chip on their shoulder, disrespecting the gym and it's fighter, that's depressingly common.

Trying to theorize about why this is (my money's on jiu-jitsu being much smaller and tighter community, despite the famous jiu-jitsu/luta livre fights in Brazil from...whenever those were) is probably not worth the mental energy and it's sad that sometimes people need to be reminded that you should play nice with others, especially when you're in their gym.

The standard sorts of things apply:

• Be respectful - Be as respectful as you would in your own gym. These guys work just as hard as your guys do, both to make their gym a great place and to build their own skills. Whether they're competitors or not, everyone's basically got the same goal.
  
  
• When in Rome... - It's entirely possible that they do things differently than you do at your gym. The style of grappling we use is a Shootfighting/Catch Wrestling system, so it relies on tactics that a lot of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu guys think of as "dirty." We also learn heel hooks, leg locks and neck cranks fairly early in our training, while many Jiu-Jitsu schools either teach these to advanced students or bar them entirely. I've learned to ask about these things before rolling, but even a, "you got any gym rules I should know about?" is a good start. Even if they don't articulate them (because they're essentially "unspoken" and therefore don't come to mind), they'll know you're not breaking them on purpose if you _do_ do something unorthodox for that place. On the other hand, if you ask this, find out that they don't allow heel hook and then start tearing knees out of place....
  
  
• You're probably going to get handled - So keep your cool. One of the big flaws of training in a certain school is that you eventually get used to sparring/rolling with the same people over and over. You develop methods and gameplans to fight specific people who are essentially fighting the same game as you. When you go to a new place, you've suddenly got a lot of unknown variables and it's entirely possible that you get folded like a pile of laundry.
  
  Don't worry about this, though, no one's keeping score and no one cares but you. I remember coming back from a session at the Relson Gracie school and thinking, "their white belts tapped me like a typewriter." I spent a while thinking about why that was and came up with a much stronger game plan. Now it takes blue blts to tape me like that.

The worst thing in the world is to see an alpha male come in and immediately start trash talking the gym and the fighters. I understand that going to a new school, especially if you're relatively new to the sport yourself is intimidating and for many people, especially the types that are drawn to combat sports, aggression is a defense mechanism.* This is the best way to find yourself on the receiving end of a tune up. These impromptu etiquette classes are actually sought after by some of the gym's old guard, as it gives them a chance to let loose in ways that they normally can't against their gymmmates.

Now, the would-be alpha male is really in hot water - 1. They've made a fool of themselves 2. They've pissed off the enforcers and 3. There's going to be a crowd gathering to watch this, and that makes the ensuing beat down that much more frustrating to the loser.

Moral of the story is: be on your best behavior when visiting another gym. You're there to learn what they can teach you and in exchange, you're teaching them/testing their skills against someone that they normally wouldn't have a chance to train with. It's a win-win situation for everyone.

If all else fails, the thing a would-be dojo buster needs to remember when entering another gym: there's a lot of them and only one of you.

* To be sure, sooner or later you're going to make a fool of yourself (doing so is actually a sign that you're picking up a complex system properly, or a feature and not a bug as the nerds say, but that's for another time),

Cut your damn toenails!

by Mike

Foot injuries take a long time to heal. You've got lots of little bones down there, contestant pressure from putting weight on them, being stuck in your stinky shoes all day and I suspect relatively poor circulation as well.

Long toenails generally don't present a problem from kicks, but rather from stepping on someone's foot - you've got all your weight coming down onto a sharp edge. Given how filthy everything involved (your foot, their foot, the mats) is, you've got a good chance of picking up an infection right there, as well as the annoyance from pick up an injury, even a slight one, in a very painful spot.

Be nice to your partners, cut your damn toenails.

Don't show up to class sick!

by Mike

This one has bothered me for a long time. It's my fault for not saying anything about it to anyone.

I'm all for people working through adversity, whether against opponents who will really test your heart, working through an injury (as long as you're smart about it...) or when you're dead tired and don't feel like coming in.

But showing up sick is stupid and disrespectful.

Snotting all over people because you have allergies is one thing, but if whatever you have is even remotely contagious, stay home and get better. It's disrespectful to your partners. Some people need to be healthy - they're training for fights or competitions, they've got vacations coming up, are interviewing for a new job, preparing for their dissertation, need to perform brain surgery, or maybe have kids or girlfriends or husbands who are doing the same. They can't afford to take time off or be less than 100%. Do the right thing and stay home until you're better.

No one cares if you miss a workout. Everyone cares if you get them sick.

Don't be a nerd - do not wear training gear in public

by Mike

Normally, I ride my bike to class. Takes me about fifteen minutes, vs. 45 on the train and I get some nice warm up/cool down besides. In the summer, I get to work on my tan and in the winter, I get to hear people tell me they admire me for riding in a Chicago January.

Aside from my big, bulky duffle bag that's probably going to throw my back out one of these days, I don't look particularly conspicuous. There was one time I was running late and wore my Sprawls (and some lady shouted, "hey, nice shorts"), but other than that, I don't look any different than the Potbellys deliverymen.

I generally ride all year long, so long as nothing's falling out of the sky and the roads are clear. When it drops below freezing and/or it's raining or snowing, I have to suck it up and drop a couple bucks on the train.

Case in point was last night when it was raining just hard enough that my bike would have been a pile of rust when I got out of class. I hopped on the el, rode down to Belmont and got on the brown line, making pretty good time when I got to my stop. I picked up my huge-ass bag, waited for everyone else to filter out of the car and left.

The first thing I noticed about the guy heading for the stairs was that he was wearing these really bright red, fingerless gloves. He had a bag from the Apple store stuffed full of whatever and he was carrying a big gym bag in a really awkward way.

I got closer and thought, "those aren't gloves, those are handwraps."

Then there was the guy behind him. This dude was walking, arms out in front of him like Frankenstein, wrapping his hands on the el platform.

I wanted to say something to the guys, but wasn't sure what I could say. All I could do was hope that they were going to the Gracie school up the street, or maybe the Kung Fu place on the corner.

When I passed them on the stairs, I saw that the handwraps they were wearing were the type they sell at my school - a brand I've never seen anyone, anywhere else wear.

Moral of the story: Don't be a nerd.

I know things happen and sometimes you need to run out to get lunch, grab something from your car or feed the meter and you don't have time to change, or you've been there all day and you forget you're wearing your belt or whatever. But, you shouldn't be walking around in your training gear unless you're actually training.

Wearing your gi on the walk to class - you look like a nerd.

Wearing your school shirt is fine, as are plain gi pants (usually). You add that belt and you're not 6 - you look like a nerd.

Wearing a Team Punishment Beanie, TapouT shirt and Sprawl shorts but you're not walking to the cage for a fight - you look like a nerd.

Wearing a Team Punishment Beanie, TapouT shirt and Sprawl shorts but you're bouncing at the bar - you look like a nerd and no one you try to throw out will take you seriously.

If you've got some sort of compulsion that keeps you from changing in the locker room, you've got bigger problems than looking like a nerd. You should really try to fix that.

Don't be a nerd.

Also, don't get me started on people who wear socks in the boxing ring or on the mat.